The story's main character is a young man called Jimmy who, after a period of time travelling and drifting around Europe, finds himself incarcerated in Seven Towers, a notorious prison in an unnamed country on the continent's edge.

The seven towers of the jail are matched to the seven deadly sins, and King has said the story "deals with the choice between retribution and rehabilitation – notions of birth and innocence.

"[1] Writing in The Independent column "A Week in Books", Boyd Tonkin argued that The Prison House confirmed King as "an adventurous avant-garde novelist" and that "the sheer virtuosity of his language overflows with a richness of invention that propels the reader through even the most gruelling ordeals."

"[2] In his review, The Guardian's Josh Lacey said: "King writes with a straightforward, aggressive intelligence that is perfectly suited to his subject matter, and his frenzied descriptions are exhilarating.

"[3] The Big Issue called The Prison House "a compelling, impressive read" and King "perhaps the most passionately liberal writer in Britain today.